Graduate Research

My dissertation research commenced in Spring 2009. I used the Ames GCM to study the behavior of methane and other trace gases in the Martian atmosphere, in particular the source magnitude and duration, and the timescale of removal or destruction. There have been multiple groups which have recently detected absorption in known methane bands using Earth and space-based instruments, and I am attempting to constrain and reproduce the results which they are reporting.

In Fall 2010, I began working with collaborators Giuseppe Marzo and Sergio Fonti to expand their initial investigation of methane abundance mapping using Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer data.

Starting in June 2007, I worked with Jim Murphy on atmospheric modeling of Mars. From June 2007 to present I have been using the NASA AMES Mars GCM, in conjunction with data from the Viking Landers and Pathfinder, as well as the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on Mars Global Surveyor.

Between March 2008 and August 2012, I also worked on the Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model/ Mars Whole Atmosphere Climate Model (GITM/MWACM) in development at the University of Michigan.

Undergraduate Research

Fall 2006-Spring 2007:
I have worked with Dr. Cornelia Lang and Allison Mercer at the University of Iowa, analyzing 8.5 and 22.5 GHz radio observations of seven luminous blue variable sources, massive stars within an important, but short-lived, evolutionary phase marked by extreme mass-loss events. My honors thesis was based on these data, and examined the compact and nebular structures associated with the stellar source AFGL 2298. I determined the spectral index of the radio emission and calculated mass-loss rates, and examined the associated expansion into the surrounding interstellar medium.

Summer 2006:
I was a summer research assistant at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, NM during 2006. I worked with Dr. Bryan Butler to create a radar map of the Martian surface, reducing and analyzing data collected by using the Goldstone 70-meter antenna as a transmitter and the Very Large Array (VLA) as a receiver during the 2003 Mars opposition. I focused upon the lava flows in the Elysium and Tharsis volcanic regions, to understand their strong, yet varied, reflectivity at 3.5 cm by evaluating age, composition, and morphology variations between the regions.

Meetings

October 2012: American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, GCM Investigation of Martian Methane Observations
M. R. Chizek, J. R. Murphy, M. A Kahre.

February 2011: 4th International Workshop on the Mars Atmosphere: Modeling and Observations, Mapping the Methane on Mars: Seasonal Comparison
M. R. Chizek, J. R. Murphy, S. Fonti, G. A. Marzo, M. A. Kahre, T. L. Roush

October 2010: American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, Investigation of the Destruction Lifetime of Martian Atmospheric Methane
M. R. Chizek, J. R. Murphy, R. M. Haberle, M. A. Kahre

March 2010: Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, A Short-Lived Trace Gas in the Martian Atmopshere: a General Circulation Model of the Likelihood of Methane
M. R. Chizek, J. R. Murphy, M. Kahre, R. M. Haberle, G. Marzo

December 2009: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, A Short-Lived Trace Gas in the Martian Atmopshere: a General Circulation Model of the Likelihood of Methane
M. R. Chizek, J. R. Murphy, M. Kahre, R. M. Haberle, G. Marzo

November 2009: Methane on Mars Workshop 2009, A Short-Lived Trace Gas in the Martian Atmosphere: A General Circulation Model of the Likelihood of Methane M. R. Chizek, J. R. Murphy, M. Kahre, R. M. Haberle, G. Marzo

October 2009: American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, Simulating Trace Gas Production, Transport, and Removal in the Martian Atmosphere
Malynda R. Chizek, J.R. Murphy, M.A. Kahre, R.M. Haberle

October 2008: American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, Mars Atmospheric Profiles: An Assessment
Malynda R. Chizek, Stephen S. Bussard, James R. Murphy

June 2008: International Planetary Probe Workshop Mars Atmosphere: Comparison of Entry Profiles with Numerical Models
Malynda R. Chizek, Stephen S. Bussard, James R. Murphy

January 2007: American Astronomical Society meeting, High Resolution Radio Observations of the Nebulae of Luminous Blue Variable Stars
A. Mercer, M. Chizek, C. C. Lang, D. F. Figer, & P. Najarro

October 2006: American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, Goldstone/VLA 3.5-cm Mars Radar Observations - Volcanic Regions
M. R. Chizek, B. J. Butler, M. A. Slade, A. F. Haldemann, D. O. Muhleman, & T. F. Mao

October 2006: American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, Goldstone/VLA 3.5cm Mars Radar Observations - "Stealths" and South Polar Regions
B. J. Butler, M. R. Chizek, M. A. Slade, A. F. Haldemann, D. O. Muhleman, & T. F. Mao